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A Second Look at a Bronx Baron’s Methods

By David Gonzalez December 5, 2008 10:39 amDecember 5, 2008 10:39 am

Ramon S. Velez in 1993. (Photo: James Estrin/The New York Times)

In recent days, various politicos have praised Ramon S. Velez — the notoriously defiant Padrino of the South Bronx who died Sunday — as having left a legacy of institutions that serve the community. They lauded him for making the careers of many Latino politicians in the Bronx.

Few have spoken openly about the flip side of that legacy. The Latino political class that Mr. Velez is credited with helping usher into power has been in disarray in recent years, under suspicion (or indictment) and faulted by critics with being more concerned about empowering a small circle of friends and relatives than uplifting the community.

Fifteen years ago, my colleague Marty Gottlieb and I got a good glimpse of how tightly knit his fiefdom was when we spent six months examining the Velez empire, from his health care centers to his housing programs. Interviewing dozens of former and current associates, employees and foes, we found a tangled and lucrative network of nonprofit groups receiving millions in government financing for services that regulators faulted for being shoddy or mediocre.

We saw how Mr. Velez and his allies were able to take over a health care center in Soundview, and run it into the ground, to the point that a former accountant told us the center had to borrow money from a loan shark to cover expenses. At the same time, the accountant said that Mr. Velez insisted on using a data processing company run by an associate to handle patient billing, even though state regulators later found it to be charging more than double the going rate.

In a way, his methods were an update on the credo of George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, who famously saw his opportunities and took ’em. Tax documents showed he had received almost a million dollars between 1987 and 1990 as a consultant to a housing group he founded — and which his son later took over. Asked what he did in one year, 1988, to earn $235,000 in consulting fees, he could not name a single thing.

“Whatever it was, it was a good investment,” he told us.

I still remember sitting in his office, where the walls were decorated with photographs of him with various politicians. I could also not help but notice the Jaguar figures on his desk, frozen in mid-prowl. In a neighborhood that was famous for its poverty and devastation, he drove to work in a late-model Jag.

Did he think such conspicuous consumption was inappropriate, I asked him.

“Don’t you think I deserve it?” he said with a smile. “I work hard.”

“My father worked hard, too,” I parried. “And he took the No. 4 train to work.”

His gaze grew cold and dismissive. “That doesn’t matter,” he said.

Indeed, among some of my older relatives who found life in this city unforgiving in the 1960s, Velez’s personal comforts were of no importance. My cousin Charlie — my favorite cousin, at that — admired the fact that Velez was willing to step up to anyone and defend the Puerto Rican community. (When people said Velez practiced bare-knuckled politics, they were not employing metaphor.) And while state regulators found fault with his clinics, my cousin and his neighbors saw them as a boon to the community.

He was not a man without charm. While his nemesis, Herman Badillo, came off as cold and analytical, Velez exuded an earthy gusto, an image no doubt enhanced by his presiding over the raucous pageant that is the Puerto Rican Day Parade (which itself became a lucrative commercial cavalcade controlled by a clique loyal to Velez). A few years after we published our stories about the Velez empire, a parade official called to tell me that the committee wanted to honor my mother and me. I politely declined.

His embrace of ethnic pride and nationalism was sincere, even his critics admitted. But it would also be used as a shield to deflect criticism from outside the community, no matter how valid. A similar tactic has been employed by some of the borough’s beleaguered politicians and their defenders in recent months, notably Assemblyman José Rivera, who was recently ousted as Democratic leader.

“These guys wrap themselves in the flag, and then you see even progressive people making excuses for them,” said Angelo Falcón, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy. “But what do they leave behind for the future? I don’t think anybody can say Puerto Rican politics in the Bronx is any kind of model of anything. It’s a mess.”

It might be worth remembering that Ramon Velez was not the only defender of the downtrodden in his community. Advocates like Antonia Pantoja, the founder of the student group Aspira, contributed mightily to improving life. And Evelina Antonetty was such an indomitable champion of the poor that her advocacy for education and family services earned her the title Hell Lady of the Bronx.

Neither became wealthy working with the poor.

Ramon Jimenez, a community activist, still speaks of Evelina Antonetty with awe. He recently wrote an essay reminding people of her contributions, hoping to salvage her reputation from obscurity.

Among her accomplishments was pushing for bilingual education, something that some people in recent days have credited to Ramon Velez.

“That’s O.K.,” said her daughter, Lorraine Montenegro, who recently stepped down as executive director of United Bronx Parents, the group her mother led until her death in 1984. “The important thing is not who gets credit, but that it gets done.”

Rather than watch two Puerto Rican candidates slug it out at the polls, Mrs. Antonetty often summoned them to her Prospect Avenue office, Ms. Montenegro recalled.

“I’ll always remember the day my mother brought Badillo and Ramon into her office and said, ‘You two shake hands and hug each other.’ She got a photographer to show there was no fighting.”

Those days are long gone.

“One reason she started United Bronx Parents was that poor people have one thing nobody can take away from them, their pride,” Ms. Montenegro said. “We needed a place they could feel safe going to and admit they need help. She wanted Latino politicians to be the kind of people others could go to in our community. But that’s all gone to their heads now.”

Great piece. “My father took the 4 train…” Ha!
Look at who is around in politics in the Bronx and the people that got pulled up the ladder… gross. Good he writes about good people doing good things in the end of the article. How many times do hear people say it doesn’t matter who gets credit as long s it gets done?

When will there be an investigation of the corruption in the Bronx? Sharpe James of New Jersey was not convicted until he left office.Charlie Rangel is still in the House of Representatives and Emanuel is now in the White House. Is there any surprise that taxes go higher with little to show for what is spent?

Thank you for a very insightful article. It is important to understand the legacy of Ramon Velez but even more of people like Antonia Pantoja and Evelina Antonetty, whom so many aren’t familiar with. Your article helps us to understand the Puerto Rican legacy in the Bronx.

Herman Badillo is desribed as cold and analytical. Badillo was the first Puerto Rican City Commissioner, Borough President and Congressman ever elected . He was cool and very smart. A true leader and honest. As reported he was challenged by Velez in the 1976 Congressional Democratic Primary when Badillo was seeking his third term. Badillo received 75% of the vote.

To draw an analogy that excuses no one, I’ve always thought that the non-profit abuses often discovered in low-income communities are not that different from Wall Street traders exploiting bubbles for quick gain, or real estate developers overleveraging their buildings with debt so they can pull out a fast profit. It’s all people taking advantage of the capital flow available to them. Of course, sucking funds from charitable enterprises is more directly unethical–but it’s the same dynamic at play, I think.

Very good and important piece. Velez was a force in Bronx Puerto Rican politics and he was responsible for a lot of development and for that he should be given credit. However, the questionable tactics he used, the nepotism and cronyism demonstrates a major weakness in the form of a lack of real leadership that exemplifies what we have today in the The Bronx. The Bronx should be our “Mecca” with true political & economic empowerment, not the political mess that we presently have. The Bronx continues to be the poorest congressional district in the USA.

. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Ramon Velez managed to attract to his community-based enterprises were gained legitimately through grant proposals to various funding agencies. Somehow it seems lost to most news reporters, that while much of those funds went to providing services to the poor residents of the South Bronx, the monies also went to salaries for thousands of employees–many of whom faced discrimination in the private sector–and who managed to support families, and put their children through college–all the while staying off the welfare rolls. Ramon Velez inculcated, and cultivated a sense of pride in Puerto Rican New Yorkers. While the innuendo about alleged corruption follows him even after life–it seems unfair that when a billionaire Mayor uses his personal fortune–not to mention discretionary funds as Mayor–to “fund” pet projects for those Council members he bribed to support his calloused ambition to remain Mayor –no news outlets refer to his actions as corrupt. When former Mayor Ed Koch allowed the Board of estimate and Borough Presidents to influence his Commissioner’s decisions regarding hiring and contracts-as occurred with Queens BP Manus–Mayor Koch was rightfully absolved of corruption himself albeit his actions or lack of action and oversight allowed for such corruption–yet he is deemed a NYC icon. Former Congressman Herman Badillo has become wealthy also “wrapping himself with the Puerto Rican flag” yet has never provided the jobs, the political opportunities, nor the programs to help his fellow-Puerto Ricans as did Ramon Velez. Velez was versed in history, politics, and literature, And unlike Mayors Bloomberg, Koch or former Congressman Badillo, Velez also served this country as a soldier with the all-Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Battalion during the Korean War. I feel privileged to have known him, and worked with him–just as so many more tens of thousands should take pride and be grateful to have had his leadership and his advocacy.
oneofthousands

Part of my youth was spent in the South Bronx and I always believed that Ray Velez and his gang of “politicos” were just of bunch of poverty pimps who shamelessly enriched themselves and others while turning their back on the Bronx. Anyone living or driving through the neighborhoods in the 1970, 80s and 90s could attest to the ignorance, decay, negligence and corruption. Drugs and police corruption went unabated while most residents depended on the scraps of government. If there was a shinning light and I am sure there were examples, it was barely noticeable. I left the South Bronx utterly disgusted and ashamed. Sure there are changes in neighborhoods occurring daily but the benighted atmosphere that existed then may never leave me. Try putting in a bookstore for starters in a neighborhood and maybe I can be rehabilitated.

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